I should have known better. I stood next to the 1959 Kellison J-4R as the owner clambered in through the window. Key inserted, he started the car. Better said, he lit the fuse. The small-block Chevy exploded to life with a sound like someone had dropped a stick of dynamite at my feet. Instinctively, I covered my ears and thought, I love this car.
The owners, Axel and Hanko Rosenblad of northern Florida, asked me to research the provenance of their car. I started the research with my usual approach, people first then secondary sources as found in books, the Internet and magazines. I work backward. I research from the current owner to the one previous then to the owner before that and so on. What I found was fascinating.
This Kellison was a three-owner car. The ownership chain went from the Rosenblads to Rich Taylor and started with Don Rodimer, the first owner.
When searching for someone from the 1950s and ’60s, I often start with the Social Security Death Index, a public record. I was able to determine from that index that Mr. Rodimer had passed away. I was also able to find an obituary online. I was unable to contact anyone in the Rodimer family.
Mr. Donald Rodimer lived in New Jersey. In the late 1940s, he owned an Isotta-Fraschini. While searching for parts for his Isotta, Mr. Rodimer became aware of the new sports car club, the SCCA. Intrigued, Rodimer applied to become a member. His application was denied, his Isotta ruled not to be a sports car. Not one to be easily dissuaded, Mr. Rodimer persisted until his membership application was accepted. He was soon made Regional Executive of the brand-new Northern New Jersey Region of the SCCA!
It is impossible to tell the exact day and year of Rodimer’s purchase of the Kellison, because all the Kellison records were destroyed in a catastrophic factory fire. The last person I was able to locate was one of James Kellison’s children, a son, in California. He was kind and gracious enough to look through his family possessions to see if there was any reference to Mr. Donald Rodimer, first owner of the J-4R. He was, however, unable to find any reference to Rodimer or this particular J-4R.
This Kellison was stored in a barn. Upon Rodimer’s death his widow was asked for some direction regarding the Kellison. She wanted it sold. The barn in question was owned by Mr. Charles “Chuck” Kirkbride. Mr. Rodimer had been paying Kirkbride $20 per month to store the car. Mr. Kirkbride was in the rubber industry for almost 30 years, mostly with Goodyear, and ending as general manager of North America for Kleber of Paris, France. He was also a racer.
Mr. Kirkbride contacted author and racer, Rich Taylor about the Kellison J-4R in his barn. Together they cut down a maple tree blocking the barn door and removed the Kellison in 1986. What they brought to daylight was an incomplete Kellison kit car in raw, unpainted fiberglass. Rodimer never completed the Kellison. At that point, it was just an unfinished kit car, but its glory days were about to begin.
After being dragged out of the barn where it sat for years, the Kellison J-4R was sent to Chassis Dynamics of Edison, New Jersey, where it received a modern tube frame chassis.
Meanwhile, engine-builder Tom Lalinski of Germantown, Pennsylvania, built a potent small block for the Kellison. The engine is a bored-and-stroked, 406-cubic-inch Corvette small block. The transmission is a Muncie M 21 4-speed. Bodies By Hollywood, in Upper Nyack, New York, restored the body and interior, painting the car in Corvette Bright White paint. The interior is finished in polished aluminum and black crackle. The windshield and rear window are unbreakable Lexan. The car rolls on 15 x 7 American Racing aluminum wheels.
Mr. Taylor first raced the Kellison at Sebring, Florida, in March of 1986. Taylor finished 3rd against such competition as Stirling Moss in a Maserati Birdcage and Peter Sachs in a Ferrari Testa Rossa. A fantastic and promising start to a 15-year career in SVRA racing.
The J-4R’s racing record (from its log book) as a historic racer is as follows:
1986 Palm Beach Historic 3rd in class (Moroso Motorsports Park)
1986 Sebring 3rd in class
1986 Lime Rock Park, 3rd in class, 2nd in Concours
1986 Bahamas Grand Prix 12-1-86 2nd, 3rd, 3rd in class 4th in Concours
1987 Lime Rock Park 5-25-87 1st in class
1987 Mid Ohio Summer Meet 6-26-1987
1987 Lime Rock Park Vintage Festival 9-19-87
1987 Grand Bahamas Vintage Grand Prix 2nd Overall, 2nd in Concours
1988 Lime Rock Park Fall Festival 9-15-88
1989 Mid Ohio SVRA -Mid Ohio Vintage Grand Prix on 6-25-89
1989 SVRA-Serengeti Drivers Cup at Watkins Glen on 9-10-89
1990 Serengeti Drivers Cup at Watkins Glen
1992 Lime Rock Park 5-25-92
1992 Lime Rock Park BMW Festival 9-5-92
1993 Lime Rock Park BMW Vintage Festival 9-3-93
1994 Lime Rock Park Vintage Festival 5-28-94
2001 Purchased by Axel and Hanko Rosenblad, Florida, 3-10-01
2005, Hanko Rosenblad, Charity Octoberfest Best in Show Racecars.
James Kellison was an interesting man with multiple careers. After the Kellison GT he went on to own a bookstore. Later, in a partnership, he made a Cobra replica called the Stallion. Finally, he bought and sold gold and silver. That business became a jewelry store still owned by his family to this day.
As for my hearing, I am happy to report it is good (sort of) and I still enjoy the bellow of a high-compression American V8.
Jeff Murray researches the provenance of all makes. Visit his website at www.vintagecarresearch.com for more information.
